California man's death at Boardman Corridor on Oregon Coast is fourth death in 4 years

A California man died Sunday after falling 300 feet from a cliff on the south Oregon Coast, according to the Curry County Sheriff’s Office. It marks the fourth death in four years at the the Samuel H. Boardman State Scenic Corridor, and the third death in four years in the Natural Bridges area located north of Brookings.

Richard Ehrhart, 69, of San Jose, was hiking the Natural Bridges Trail in Curry County with his wife on April 21. The two separated on the trail, the sheriff's office said, and his wife returned to the couple's car.

Later, a caller relayed that he had seen a person on the rocks below him, from the trail, that appeared to be deceased. The body was identified as Ehrhart. Search and rescue teams recovered his body.

Oregon State Police is the lead agency for investigating the cause of death.

The Natural Bridges are a series of scenic rocks and bluffs near the Pacific Ocean viewed from just off very steep cliffs.

“We here at the Curry County Sheriff’s Office express our condolences to the family and friends of Richard Ehrhart. We also want to remind everyone of the dangers of hiking the coastal trails, and to please be safe,” the sheriff’s office said in a news release.

Fourth death in 4 years at Boardman Corridor

While it’s unclear exactly what happened in the accident, the Boardman Corridor in general — and the Natural Bridges area in particular — has become the location with the most fatal accidents on the coast since 2021.

A North Carolina woman visiting the Natural Bridges section of the park died in a fall in 2021. A California man died when he fell from the Natural Bridges Viewpoint in 2022. Another man was rescued from the area in 2022, according to newspaper archives.

Last year, a 36-year-old father died and three children were rescued after an attempt to visit the so called “Secret Beach” went wrong and the group slid down a cliff after following a user-created trail.

Why is the area on the south Oregon Coast so dangerous?

The number of people visiting the park located just off U.S. Highway 101 has increased by more than 34% since 2018, according to state park numbers, which has meant more visitors to an area with steep cliffs that drop hundreds of feet.

In addition, the number of so-called “social trails” that sometimes lead to dangerous spots has increased. People can think they’re going to get a scenic viewpoint only to come to an extremely dangerous location.

Oregon Parks and Recreation Department spokesman Chris Havel said park staff have done their best to cover up social trails with brush, but they often reemerge.

As for putting up more signs that illustrate the danger, Havel said that’s a challenge too, as visitors often take them down. Or, it creates the illusion that every social trail without a sign is perfectly safe, which may not be true.

“This is a challenging issue,” Havel said. “There often isn’t an easy or obvious solution, especially at a place like Boardman that stretches 12 miles and is really a series of different parks. We’re going to work on looking at what’s going on to pick up on a real pattern or trend and then figure out what we could do.”

Zach Urness has been an outdoors reporter in Oregon for 15 years and is host of the Explore Oregon Podcast. Urness is the author of “Best Hikes with Kids: Oregon” and “Hiking Southern Oregon.” He can be reached at zurness@StatesmanJournal.com or (503) 399-6801. Find him on X at @ZachsORoutdoors.

This article originally appeared on Salem Statesman Journal: Man dies after fall at Boardman Corridor on Oregon Coast